By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given its word to the general public especially the industry players in the area of Cement and related materials to desist from the usage of Woven Polypropylene (PP) in packaging cement and other building materials as it announced moves to control the use of the said material for safety reasons.
The EPA under Hazardous, Electronic and Other Waste Control and Management Regulations, Act 2016, Act 917 in conjunction with its Ministry responsible for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation in the country, has been come aware about the plastic waste pollution menace in the country and to this end a National Plastic Management Policy has been developed to sanitize the system to protect the environment and aquatic life.
At news conference addressed by Dr. Henry Kwabena Kokofu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, November, 29th, 2023 on the subject of Plastic Waste Management in Accra said,
“The control of industry use of plastic products, particularly PP bags, is more critical now than ever”, as he stressed the fact that, “the Cement manufacturing Industry has been known to use paper bags, which are degradable and so Environmentally friendly. However, we have noticed in recent times attempts to change from Cement paper bagging to woven PP bags within the industry”.
Relying on the Hazardous, Electronic and Other Waste (Classification) Control and Management Regulations, Act 2016, L.I 225 which mandates the Agency to Co-manage, Protect and Safeguard the Biophysical Environment of the Country has called on the General Public, industry players as well as other stakeholders that the permitted means of bagging Cement is strictly with the use of Paper.
According to him, the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, Article 36 (9) and 41 (K) & EPA Act, 1994 (Act 490) Environmental Assessment Regulation 1999 (L.I. 1652) also empowered the EPA to protect all residents in Ghana from harmful emission from burning of these polypropylene bags as a form of disposing them which also leads to the discharge of vinyl chloride and dioxins.
“Because of the amount of time it takes PP bags to break down, most of these bags find their way into the Oceans, through sewers and waterways and eventually pose a serious threat to aquatic life”, he mentioned.
Quoting from the World Economic Forum Website EPA Boss submitted that, “production of one ton of polypropylene produces about 3.7-7.5 tons of CO2 which supercharges the natural greenhouse effect, causing global temperature to rise”, he again noted that, “Emission of GreenHouse Gases, when these PP bags are being recycled. The breakdown of these petrol-based bags causes carbon to become methane, which is a dangerous greenhouse gas”.
According to the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association, the rate of post-consumer recycling of polypropylene worldwide is about 1%, which means huge amount of polypropylene are sent to landfills, which subsequently compounds plastic pollution
EPA together with other law enforcing institutions and agencies in charge of the country’s entry points and internal security matters when it comes to wholesome products will soon pay unannounced visits to the market to clean the system of unwarranted packing materials. EPA says: “Our country is checking on plastic. It is time to change the way we produce, consume, and dispose of the plastic we use”.
